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justlookingnotbuying
Joined: 22 Jan 2017
Posts: 4
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 Posted: Thu Feb 02, 2017 11:37 am Post subject: Less urbanised areas (and schools) of China |
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Hi all.
Does anyone know of any schools (reputable preferably!), or cities that are in less urbanised areas or regions!?
I know that China is a highly urbanised country and the majority of schools are where demand for English is highest (i.e the cities). I want to teach in China but don't fancy living in a huuuuuuuge place, and generally prefer more rural areas...
Does the above even exist here!!?
Thanks in advance for any advice! |
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roadwalker
Joined: 24 Aug 2005
Posts: 1750
Location: Ch
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| Posted: Thu Feb 02, 2017 12:04 pm Post subject: Re: Less urbanised areas (and schools) of China |
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| justlookingnotbuying wrote: |
Hi all.
Does anyone know of any schools (reputable preferably!), or cities that are in less urbanised areas or regions!?
I know that China is a highly urbanised country and the majority of schools are where demand for English is highest (i.e the cities). I want to teach in China but don't fancy living in a huuuuuuuge place, and generally prefer more rural areas...
Does the above even exist here!!?
Thanks in advance for any advice! |
I suggest looking into university jobs. Even in the major cities, the universities are usually moved out to cheaper areas in the outskirts. Check with current teachers to find out which schools have which problems associated with living away from the center, or if they are even moved away from the center at all. Not all of China is urbanised...yet. But there are a lot of people in this country, so you will run into them now and again. Throw your rough figures for what population makes a city, a town and a village out the window or at least multiply by 10 for China. |
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OhBudPowellWhereArtThou
Joined: 02 Jun 2015
Posts: 1168
Location: Since 2003
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| Posted: Thu Feb 02, 2017 6:05 pm Post subject: |
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What may have been non-urbanized three years ago quickly becomes part of the urban landscape because university campuses create quite a consumer market. While students in smaller metropolises may not have much discretionary cash, businesses quickly pop up to soak up that cash. As the university grows, so do the businesses near the university.
At two universities where I taught, the city grew around the original campus. At one campus, it was a matter of four years or so before it was surrounded by stores and high rise apartments. At the other, it was took about five years before the apartments and the department stores arrived.
If you want to get away from city life altogether, go west.
You might become pretty lonely unless your Chinese is good. |
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Non Sequitur
Joined: 23 May 2010
Posts: 4724
Location: China
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| Posted: Thu Feb 02, 2017 6:25 pm Post subject: |
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Check out Dalian Foreign Languages U and Dalian Medical U. They have relocated from the city to Lushun which is about an hour south down the peninsula.
Nice little harbour (called Port Arthur in the days of Western enclaves).
There is one other U there (foreign studies or something) but avoid if the admin is a guy Wang Long Long.
If you don't need the bar and restaurant scene then could be for you.
If you do go into town check out I55 bar and grill on Gaoerji Lu. Great breakfast buffet on weekends.
Best
NS |
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justlookingnotbuying
Joined: 22 Jan 2017
Posts: 4
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| Posted: Fri Feb 03, 2017 3:28 pm Post subject: |
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Thanks for all the replies.
I'll look into the above but would preferably work with younger kids actually.... Ideally Kindergarden to middle school, although I do have experience teaching teens and young adults.
Anyone know of any places and schools where this would be possible?!
Cheers. |
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Foo_Fighters_Dave
Joined: 09 Dec 2016
Posts: 162
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| Posted: Fri Feb 03, 2017 5:07 pm Post subject: |
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| justlookingnotbuying wrote: |
Thanks for all the replies.
I'll look into the above but would preferably work with younger kids actually.... Ideally Kindergarden to middle school, although I do have experience teaching teens and young adults.
Anyone know of any places and schools where this would be possible?!
Cheers. |
Check out the China Job Board on Dave's ESL Café. |
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backtochina2017
Joined: 28 Nov 2016
Posts: 123
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| Posted: Sat Feb 04, 2017 2:43 am Post subject: |
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| I want to teach in China but don't fancy living in a huuuuuuuge place, and generally prefer more rural areas |
A university job is ok, you will live on campus and you can get meals easily from the cafeterias. However, in rural areas these schools usually have students who didn't make it to the big city universities. They are often used to get the richer students to buy their way into a big city university later. So, you might end up having to give better grades to students who don't show up or performed below the passing expectations. It's not so much you teaching them, but you showing up, doing your thing, whoever shows up shows up, and then you pass them regardless if they learned anything.
I couldn't get into that and left after 4 months. Instead, I look for those No.1 high schools in less populated areas. You will get small groups of "advanced" students who usually have parents who speak some English which brings their levels up and then the big 40+ student classes. The nice thing is they are accountable. They still live with their parents.
If you go with a language school, you won't get many high school students at the school. They might send you out to different public schools. I suggest making it imperative you won't go to more than 2 different public schools unless you are subbing for another teacher. The reason is that transportation takes up a lot of time, and you won't want to travel in the morning back and forth and do the same in the afternoon every day. That is how they have to arrange these things in the rural areas because they simply can't get enough students.
Make sure the living conditions are what you want. Some schools will impose shared housing and not tell you this upfront. Ask them about this. The contract should mention when they want to teach, so you can see if they want you to work in the summer and winter vacation weeks.
I use Baidu maps to scope out different areas before I go into the "rural wilderness". Look for buses, taxis, street food being sold, etc... You won't see a lot of businesses open because the camera cars usually go in the morning, but you should be able to at least see bus stop signs with routes listed.
Another thing to do is search for Walmart or see if there are shopping plazas. This is a good sign there will be a community. Sometimes, it's not a western based supermarket, but you should try to at least see one or two in the area. Otherwise, you will have to do some weekend traveling to get some things.
If you are unsure, the train stations often give a good idea of living conditions. They will have one station and then a north station. Some cities will be more of a hub and you can see several stations.
Do your research along with lining up a job. |
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Foo_Fighters_Dave
Joined: 09 Dec 2016
Posts: 162
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| Posted: Sat Feb 04, 2017 9:30 am Post subject: |
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I use Baidu maps to scope out different areas before I go into the "rural wilderness". Look for buses, taxis, street food being sold, etc... You won't see a lot of businesses open because the camera cars usually go in the morning, but you should be able to at least see bus stop signs with routes listed
Is Baidu an app for your phone? I never heard of it. What does it do? |
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JoThomas
Joined: 08 Jan 2017
Posts: 148
Location: Canada
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| Posted: Sat Feb 04, 2017 10:03 am Post subject: |
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I had friends who worked in Fuzhou, Wenzhou, and Heifei. These places are mid-sized places or more rural that have ESL work. I'm not sure if you are on seriousteachers.com website, but you will get a lot of job possibilities in smaller places from there. There are lots of recruiters who will help you find what you are looking for on that website.
Cheers |
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The bear
Joined: 16 Aug 2015
Posts: 483
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| Posted: Sat Feb 04, 2017 10:17 am Post subject: |
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| Foo_Fighters_Dave wrote: |
I use Baidu maps to scope out different areas before I go into the "rural wilderness". Look for buses, taxis, street food being sold, etc... You won't see a lot of businesses open because the camera cars usually go in the morning, but you should be able to at least see bus stop signs with routes listed
Is Baidu an app for your phone? I never heard of it. What does it do? |
Baidu is the Chinese version of google.
Baidu maps = google maps. There's a website and an app. |
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